Crossfire Hurricane

Marking the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones, director Brett Morgan describes his film as “an aural and visual roller coaster ride”, combining archive footage (much of it previously unseen) and fresh interviews with band members to give the fullest picture yet of the rock icons.

Charting their humble Home Counties blues beginnings, the chaos and riots of early tours, the controversies of drugs busts and the tragedy of Altamont, the group’s elevation to global superstar status, no cinematic account of a fictional band could ever hope to contain as much drama.

Cynics may claim the group have long ceased to exist as anything other than a money-making machine, but even as a business concern the Stones continued to have a major influence on how the rock industry is run, and remain a force unto themselves.

As Keith Richards succinctly puts it during one of the film’s interview segments, “You can't really stop the Rolling Stones, you know when that sort of avalanche is facing you, you just get out of the way”.